1. Field
The invention is in the field of archery bow handle risers.
2. State of the Art
Traditionally, archery bow handle risers have had a hand grip portion formed integrally therewith. This is referred to as a self grip. The desire to be able to modify the hand grip portion of the riser to comfortably fit a wide variety of archers ' preferences for handle shape and fit has led in recent years to replaceable hand grip portions of the riser which generally take the form of a molded plastic or shaped wood handle that is positioned over a receiving portion of a handle riser and removably secured thereto.
A handle riser grip includes a throat portion where the thumb and forefinger of an archer holding the riser extend about opposite sides of the riser, and a heel portion which fits into the palm of the hand of the archer and about which the remaining fingers extend along one side. Replaceable hand grips provide a throat and heel portion which can be fit to the user 's hand. However, it is usually preferred to keep the throat portion of the grip relatively narrow so that the thumb and forefinger comfortably and securely fit around the throat. When constructing a handle riser, however, an important consideration is the structural strength of the riser since the riser is subjected to extreme stress when the bow is drawn. Therefore, the minimum thickness of the throat of the grip of the riser is usually determined by the required strength of the riser. In many cases, the minimum thickness of the throat (usually the thinnest part of the riser) required for strength in the riser is the comfortable thickness for the archer. When replaceable hand grips of the prior art are used, the thickness of the replaceable grip is added to the required minimum thickness of the structural portion of the throat and results in a thicker throat than most archers prefer.